Foundations as partners

Historically foundations have partnered with civil society and non-governmental organisations. However, over the last 15 years foundations have changed the way they operate and now work with a wider spectrum of development actors. Yet, while there is a trend towards collective action and multi-stakeholder initiatives, many barriers to forming coalitions remain.This chapter examines the drivers and hurdles for collaboration. It finds interactions between foundations and other actors working for development differ significantly depending on the type of stakeholder and highlights how and how much foundations collaborate with other foundations, with the donor community, with governments in developing countries and with civil society organisations.